Highlighting the development and growth of a 3,000 sq. ft. rooftop production garden in the Historic Walker's Point neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI, this blog offers tools and resources on sustainable urban agriculture. We welcome questions, comments and suggestions as we embark on the largest rooftop production garden in the Cream City.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Seed Saving 101

For those who were unable to make it to the Seed Saving workshop this month, here are some tips, notes and photos!

Why save seeds?

It's Cheap! And you end up with basically a free crop for next year

It's an important way to save heirloom varieties that are otherwise being lost from our food system

Plants adapt to local conditions and can grow better next year

What do I need?

Depending on the seeds you are planning to save, basic tools you'll need are knife, cutting board and paper towel. If tomato seeds are on your list, then you'll also need a jar with lid and water.

Which seeds to save or not save?

Squash and sweet corn (male/female flower parts) can cross-pollinate and may not necessarily be good the second year

Carrots/beets are biennial plants, so it takes two years for them to go to seed. It's possible, just more difficult.

Tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas are easy plants to save seed from.

F1 hybrid seeds were cross-bred and may not produce desirable results (or not even produce at all!) Open pollinated seeds are heirloom varieties that will yield 'true' generations.

How to save seeds, some common examples:

Save seed from the most vigorous, healthy plants as these will have the 'strongest' seeds (e.g. natural selection)

Tomatoes/Cucumbers (see photos below): allow fruit to fully ripen and scoop out seeds and pulp. Place in jar of water for 24-76 hours, to ferment (this releases the lining on the seed, allowing for future germination), stirring the seeds every day. Once seeds have sunk to the bottom, pour liquid away and rinse. Dry on paper towel (preferably out of sunlight) and once completely dry (up to 3 weeks!) place in envelope.

Peppers: Let pepper fully ripen on fruit and wait until skin starts wrinkle. Remove from pepper and let dry on paper towel. Then place in envelope.

Peas/Beans: Allow pod to ripen on stalk and start to dry and turn brown. Spread them out on a tray indoors to dry, waiting at least two weeks before shelling. Or you can leave them in the pod until next spring when ready to plant.

Carrots/Beets: As a biennial plant, carrots (like beets) won't flower until early into the second year after planting. If you want to collect carrot seeds, leave a few in the ground to overwinter and collect seeds once the flowers have seeded and dried the following spring/early summer.

How to store seed:

Seeds are best stored in paper envelopes in a cool, dark area where temperatures don't fluctuate much.

Make sure to label your envelopes well with variety type and year. You may even want to leave a few notes for yourself to remember for next year.

Tomato Seed Saving Photos

When you cut open your tomatoes, you'll see the seeds surrounded by their pulp/coating. Squeeze all of this out into the jar.

After you squeeze out the pulp and seeds into your jar, throw the rest of yourtomatoes into a blender to make a quick salsa or add themto your compost pile for next year's crop.